weed wacker questions

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DARKSCOPE001

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Aug 19, 2010
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Pickerington Ohio
hey guys i have some questions for you. I just rebuilt the carb on my weedwacker (1 year old featherlight) put new fuel lines on it and everything. I can now at least get it to run after my parents left old gas in it all year and winter. Mixed up some new 40:1 and yanked. Started right up on full choke and then continued to run after being flipped to half choke. put it on full open and the motor seemed to want to die alot.

Today started it up. It would only run half choke (it is very humid tho so there is alot of moisture in the air so idk how much that would effect mixture settings) But the motor still would not run on full open and seemed to want to bog if i just grabbed the throttle and yanked. it would accelerate super slow and sometimes die.

What does this mean? I checked all the gaskets (trimmer is only 1 year old) they all seemed pliable and new. no holes or defects. cleaned everything out. new lines. inspected the primer bulb. it was fine and still pliable. Now when the motor is running the primmer bulb becomes mostly empty of fuel.

So I can only conclude with my limited experience with carbs that the problem is its running lean? Also if anyone could tell me how to adjust the mixture settings? eg high and low? I know that because its a Weedeater it needs a special tool (gona get one after payday) Do you adjust the low first till it idles fine? then adjust high so that it runs ok at full? how do you know whats to rich and whats to lean? I would think with yard tools its better to run them rich than lean but idk.

Thanks
Sean Scott
 
IDK about Weedeater brand,but on Echo we'd use 'low' to idle strong,and 'high' to run smooth and strong at the top end.Plus there should be an idle adjust screw also but I could be wrong.on the adjust screws just a TINY turn in either direction is what to work with,some guys really get'em so bad outta wack you have to start over( all the way in ,half turn out ,quarter turn eighth/sixteenth, etc.
 
You can inspect your spark plug to help determine if it's rich or lean. Black, sooty or wet plug = rich. White to light grey = lean. Usually a lean running engine will rev up. I'm suspecting your's might be lean.

Try gently turning the screws all the way in until they seat. Back them out one turn each to establish a base point. fine tune in and/or out to get it running right. It should spin wide open to 7000+ rpm when adjusted correctly.
 
Sounds like the metering lever on the needle is not adjusted properly. The kinda "See-Saw" action from the diaphragm lets fuel into the carb. IIRC the featherlight is set at the same height as the metal beside the lever, so you put just enough pressure on the lever to check it. If its a Walbro carb, take a look at this page: http://wem.walbro.com/distributors/servicemanuals/
If a Zama, this page should be helpful: http://www.zamacarb.com/tips.html
For small engine carbs in general, this page will help: http://www.madsens1.com/saw_carb_tune.htm
 
Ok thanks everyone for the replies. I didnt think to take a look at the needle valve leaver. But I did take out the spark plug. the ground electrode is covered in kind of an ashy grey so baised on previous statements I beleive that this means its running lean. Ill try riching it up a little and see what that does. I really dont want to tear this carb down again. i already broke the choke leaver off and have to find some way to jerry rig it.

Thanks
Sean Scott
 
If you went through a carb without installing new gaskets, you have a problem.

You might get lucky and be able to compensate for an air leak by richening the adjustment needles, whatever works. Old gaskets shrink and never go on exactly the same when you rebuild a carb. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't.

Most rebuild kits for 2 stroke "cube" carbs are about $12-15. The whole carb itself is sometimes available, new, for around $20 on ebay.
 
If it's running in choke, but not without, then its a lean air fuel mix. The low speed jet is closest to the cylinder, the high speed is closest to the air filter box. Start with the low at one and the high all the way at two turns out. If it still wont throttle up there are only a few thing it could be with it only being a year old. But the most likely failure in my experience is a stuck main nozzle check valve. You also could have the diaphragm upside down, or on the wrong side of the gasket. Without all the experience and tools to properly diag a small carb I suggest replacing the carb. May be worth spending another 30 min or so going back through it to see if anything is out of place, but carbs on ebay are cheap. One last easy mistake to check is the carb to insulator gasket. Make sure the impulse hole is not blocked by a miss arranged gasket.
 
ok thanks everyone. Ill double check to make sure I didnt put it in wrong but I was very carefull when i did it and made sure that the gaskets were all lined up and in the correct order. it did the same thing last year. As far as i remember as long as my parents have had this thing (about a year) it has always bogged really bad during acceleration. So ill start by turning out the low and take it from there. Im getting frustrated with it ring now so im giving it a break.

Thanks again
Sean Scott
 
If you don't have the tool, you can't adjust the air screw. If you have a Dremmel tool with a cut off wheel, you can cut across the guard that is around the air screw and cut a slot into the screw and use a small flathead screwdriver to turn it out approx 1/4 turn. It should run better than it did when it was new.
 
thanks. yea i know that weedeater and polan brands requier a special external spline drive tool (found one on amazon for about 3 bucks) I mentioned in my first post that I was gona get one. I think this would be usefull because I have both a weedeater and a polan chainsaw (chainsaw runs just fine perhaps a little boggy but I dont want to touch it its running pretty well) As far as i understand weedeater brands go with this design to keep users from tampering with the carb but im not really sure.

Thanks
Sean Scott
 
You know it could be ethanol fuel fouling it up. I had the smae problem, cleaned the fuel system and installed some BG ethanol treatment products, been great ever since!
 
dang You mean the up to 10% ethenol they throw in gas these days can foul them up? Sensitive little buggers. Atho right now im trying to decide between the dremel the screws to accept a slotted method or buying the supid tool. Apparently the tool does not qualify for free shipping on amazon so it goes from 5 to 10 dollars I even added some other stuff i needed to get my order over 25 and it was still 5 dollars shipping on the tool.

Now with that said i do have another question. I was at work to day in the break room Looking at the adds. I came acrost an ollies outlet add and looked through it. First page. Refurbished royobi 4 stroke trimmers for 99 bucks. Straight or curved shaft. I really wouldnt say no to a 4 stroke. Because the only 2 stroke tool I have thats used regularly is the trimmer and it sips gas. But I dont know who the OE is and how good they are.

Thanks
Sean Scott
 
As far as the tool goes...the one I have to fit my Featherlite fits only a few other adjustment "screws". It does work on Poulan chain saws though. I'm not buying any more tools. The old Dremmel tool method works very well if you cut a deep enough slot (right in the center) and don't torqe to hard on the screw.
 
Since you did ask about other weed eaters I'll mention mine. I have a Stihl I bought about 8-10 years ago. All I do is keep the spark arrestor clean(or removed) & lube the head once in a while. I did re-string it once to.

I also have been moving more to the non-ethanol fuel for my small engines.
 
Thanks everyone. I got my adjustment tool in the mail the other day. Turned the low screw out about 1/16 turn. brought idle revs up and smoothed the idle up alot. So i turned the idle adjust down. Engine still wanted to die on acceleration so I keept turning out the high screw till acceleration was fast with no bogging. Probably ended up turning it out about 1/2 turn. Seems to be working now. starts much easyer. Much less running on half choke and flaming out after a few seconds (actualy almost zero flame out)

Thanks again
Sean Scott
 
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